Chapter 5 Communicating Nonverbally
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Chapter 5—Communicating Nonverbally
At a Glance
The Nature and Functions of Nonverbal Communication
Ten Channels of Nonverbal Communication
Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter you should be able to:
2. List and summarize the reasons nonverbal communication plays an important role in
human interaction.
4. Describe the importance of facial displays and the functions of facial displays.
6. List and summarize the ways in which culture influences nonverbal communication.
8. Differentiate between being sensitive to a nonverbal message and deciphering a
nonverbal message’s meaning.
9. Describe strategies for improving your nonverbal interpretation and expression skills.
Chapter 5 Communicating Nonverbally
Lecture Outline
I. The Nature and Functions of Nonverbal Communication
A. What is nonverbal communication?
2. We can tell a great deal about people by watching their facial expressions or
by listening to the tone of their voice.
4. Sometimes we perceive others based on the way they use their time or the
space around them.
5. Nonverbal communication involves the behaviors and characteristics that
convey meaning without the use of words.
1. Nonverbal communication is present in most communication contexts.
a. When you talk with people one-on-one or in a group, you have access not
only to their spoken words but also to several dimensions of nonverbal
communication.
2. Nonverbal communication often conveys more information than verbal
communication.
a. Estimates from nonverbal communication scholar Judee Burgoon suggest
that 65 to 70 percent of meaning comes from nonverbal cues, with 30 to
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3. Nonverbal communication is usually believed over verbal communication.
a. Nonverbal messages sometimes contradict verbal messages. Most of the
4. Nonverbal communication is the primary means of expressing emotion.
a. Emotion is a powerful influence on our behavior, and our primary way of
communicating how we feel through our nonverbal behaviors.
b. Two channels of nonverbal behavior that are particularly important in the
5. Nonverbal communication metacommunicates.
6. Nonverbal communication serves multiple functions:
a. Nonverbal communication helps us manage conversations.
b. Nonverbal communication helps us maintain relationships through the use
Chapter 5 Communicating Nonverbally
II. Ten Channels of Nonverbal Communication
A. Facial displays are facial expressions that are an important source of information
in nonverbal communication.
2. There are three important functions of facial displays:
a. Revealing identity
3. Facial expressions, sometimes called nonmanual signals, are also extremely
important to those who communicate through sign language.
B. The eyes communicate more than any other part of the face.
2. Eye contact plays a role in several important types of relational interactions.
a. Eye contact is used to signal attraction and to infer that someone is
attracted to us.
3. Pupil dilation is a reaction to different social situations and conversational
1. The study of movement is called kinesics.
a. Your gait, or the way you walk, is one way that body movement can
2. The use of arm and hand movements to communicate is gesticulation. Most
people use gestures even before they begin speaking.
a. Emblems are any gestures that have a direct verbal translation.
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manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
1. Haptics is the study of how we use touch to communicate.
2. There are five major areas in which touch plays a critical role in conveying
meaning:
2. Paralanguage refers to vocalic behaviors that communicate meaning along
with verbal behavior. There are nine characteristics of the voice that go along
with words we speak to convey meaning:
a. Pitch is how high or deep someone’s voice sounds.
1. Smell can affect our communication behavior by influencing our memories
and moods.
3. Smell also affects communication by playing a role in determining to whom
we are sexually attracted.
a. Research shows that we are drawn to people whose natural body scent is
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1. The scientific study of spatial use is called proxemics.
2. According to Edward T. Hall, people in Western societies use four different
spatial zones, or levels of personal distance:
a. Intimate distance (0 to 1½ feet) is the zone we willingly occupy with our
2. Attractiveness has advantages.
a. Attractive people have higher self-esteem and more dating experience than
3. Because physical attractiveness is so highly valued, some people go to
dangerous extremes to achieve it.
a. Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by excessive dieting
4. Some aspects of personal appearance are fixed, while others are easily
changeable.
1. The way we give (or refuse to give) our time to others can send them
important messages about how we feel about them.
3. Our use of time also sends messages about power.
Chapter 5 Communicating Nonverbally
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manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
III. Culture, Sex, and Nonverbal Communication
A. Culture influences nonverbal communication in many ways:
1. Emblems
3. Personal distance
5. Facial displays of emotion
7. Time orientations
9. Vocalics
B. Sex influences nonverbal communication.
2. The question of why sex influences nonverbal communication has intrigued
researcher for decades.
3. Sex influences several forms of nonverbal communication:
a. Emotional expressiveness
4. Sex differences, even when they are present, aren’t always substantial.
1. Be sensitive to nonverbal messages.
2. Decipher the meaning of nonverbal messages.
a. Consider both the social situation and the nonverbal behaviors that are
being enacted.
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b. Keep in mind that cultural differences influence the meaning of nonverbal
messages, particularly for gestures and eye behaviors.
c. When you are unsure how accurately you have deciphered a nonverbal
message, ask the person to confirm the meaning.
B. Expressing nonverbal messages
1. Spend time with highly expressive people.
2. Take part in games and activities that exercise your nonverbal skills.
Chapter 5 Communicating Nonverbally
Key Terms
nonverbal communication
regulators
Chapter 5 Communicating Nonverbally
Additional Lecture Ideas
1. Invite a “life coach” to speak to your class, particularly someone who specializes in
professional etiquette and image. Have your speaker address how our nonverbal
2. Outside of class, have students watch the movie Hitch (2005), in which Will Smith plays
Alex “Hitch” Hitchens, a successful matchmaker. According to Hitch, “Sixty percent of
3. Allow students to watch an episode of the television show Lie to Me during or outside of
4. As an outside project, divide students into small teams to go out and perform a
“Nonverbal Violation Experiment.” For example, one team of students might stare at
people on an elevator, while another group might visit doctors’ offices and sit too close to
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© 2018 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any
manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
Classroom Discussion and Activity Topics
1. Pair up students in your class and challenge them to a “partner stare down.” Without
speaking to one another, each person should write down 10 observations and 10
corresponding assumptions about his or her partner. (For example, she has a ring on her
left ring finger = she must be married.) After both partners are finished, have them
2. Nonverbal Charades.
Round 1: Ask for student volunteers to act out several sets of charades without using
words. (For example, you overslept; you walked into your surprise party; or you have the
3. Ask students to complete the Interpretation and Expression Skills Self-Assessment in The
4. A great discussion starter is to ask students if they have ever been the victims of
nonverbal “culture shock.” Would they share an experience in which the nonverbal
behaviors used were different than their own culture’s way of doing things? Did this lead
to misunderstanding? How did they adapt? You might find that many students have lived
5. Create a 5–10 photograph slide show for students to view in class. Ask students to infer
6. The Dark Side of Communication—Hungry for Affection: The Problem of Affection
Deprivation. Discuss the theory that a growing number of Americans now experience
affection deprivation, which is a significant deficit in the amount of affectionate touch
Chapter 5 Communicating Nonverbally
they receive. Introduce the ways people try to alleviate the problem, including the idea of
a cuddle party. As a class, discuss the following questions posed:
Chapter 5 Communicating Nonverbally
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For Review
1. How do people communicate nonverbally?
2. How do culture and sex influence nonverbal behavior?
3. In what ways can you improve your nonverbal communication skills?
Pop Quiz
Multiple Choice
1. The two characteristics that contribute most to facial attractiveness are
a. symmetry and proportionality.
b. symmetry and expressiveness.
c. proportionality and diameter.
d. proportionality and expressiveness.
2. Diane announces that she is doing a study of oculesics. The form of nonverbal
communication she is studying is
a. the use of smell.
b. the influence of attractiveness.
c. emotional expressiveness.
d. eye behaviors.
3. A manicurist touches Suzi’s hands while giving her a manicure. The type of touch Suzi is
receiving is
a. affectionate.
b. caregiving.
c. ritualistic.
d. power and control.
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4. How high or low a voice sounds is an index of the vocal characteristic known as
a. inflection.
b. volume.
c. rate.
d. pitch.
5. Because she’s from this type of culture, Laila sees time as flexible and diffused and doesn’t
necessarily expect punctuality.
a. monochronic culture
b. high-contact culture
c. polychronic culture
d. low-contact culture
Fill in the Blanks
6. ______ is the first of the five senses to develop in humans.
7. The study of smell is called ______.
8. Nonword sounds such as “umm” and “uh” are called ______.
9. People in ______ cultures touch each other significantly more than do people in other
cultures.
10. The ______ is the idea that the face communicates more information than any other
nonverbal behavior channel.